robert s



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT C. HART, OF NEWV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, AND ROBERT S. FIELD, OFBROOKLYN, NEWV YORK.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,924, dated March16, 1897.

Application filed September 26, 1896. Serial No. 607,062. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ROBERT C. HART, a resident of New Haven, in thecounty of New Haven, State of Connecticut, and ROBERT S. FIELD, aresident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, citizens ofthe United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Switches, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in whichsimilar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts whereverfound throughout the several views.

This invention relates to railway-switchoperating devices; and theobject thereof is to provide improved devices of this class which areadaptedto be operated by improved mechanism connected with a car, afurther object being to provide an improved switchoperating device fortramway-cars and improved devices which are connected with the bottom ofthe car and the platform thereof for operating the same.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, ofwhich the accompanying drawings form a part, in which- Figure 1 is aplan view of a section of a railway-track, showing also a section of asidetrack, a switch, and means for operating the same; Fig. 2, asectional side view, the section being taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;Fig. 3, a bottom plan View of one end of a car and the platform thereof,showing the switchoperating devices connected therewith; Fig. 4, a sideview thereofgand Fig. 5, a front view of the dashboard, showing a leverwhich forms a part of the switch-operating devices.

In the drawings forming part of this specification we have shown at 6the rails of a main railway-track and at 7 the rails of a side-track,and in the practice of our invention we place between the rails of themain track a cross-head 8, which is provided in its upper side with alongitudinal groove 9, in which is placed a sliding bar 10, which isheld in place by cross-plates 11, and one end of the sliding bar 9 ispivotally connected with a switch-tongue 12, and said sliding bar isprovided at about the middle thereof with a transverse groove 13, theside Walls of which are rounded at the corners, as shown in Fig. 1. \Vealso employ a lever 14, which is pivoted in a suitable support 15, andwhich is provided centrally thereof with an arm 16, which projects atright angles thereto and the end of which passes through the transversegroove 13 in the bar '10, and connected with each end of the lever 14 isa rod 17, which extends backwardly along the track to a predeterminedpoint, where each of said rods is pivotally connected with a dog 18,which is pivotally connected with the inner side of each of the rails 6or any other suitable support, and

I each of said dogs is provided with an upwardly-directed prong orprojection 19.

The cross-head 8,the sliding bar 1O,t-l1e lever 14:, and the partsconnected therewith are all preferably inclosed in a suitable box orcasing, as shown in Fig. 2, consisting of a bottom 20, a top plate 21,and end plates 22, and we also connect with the bottom of a caroperating devices, which are adapted to operate in connection with thedogs 18 to open and close the switch, and these devices are shown inFigs. 3 to 5, inclusive, and will now be described.

In Fig. 3 we have shown the bottom of one end of a car, and in Fig. 4 aside View thereof, the bottom being designated by the referencenumeral23, and being also provided with a platform 24: and the dashboard 25,and mounted at the opposite sides of the truck-frame, and preferablybetween the axles, are vertically-movable bolts 26, which are held intheir highest position by springs 27, and pivoted in front of each ofsaid bolts is a lever 28, the rear ends of which bear on the heads ofsaid bolts, as shown at 29, and the front ends of which are projecteddownwardly, and connected with the downwardly-projecting front ends ofeach of said levers is a rod 30, the outer ends of which are connectedwith the ends of a lever 31, which is pivotally supported at 32 beneaththe platform of the car, and which is provided centrally with anoutwardly-directed arm 33, with which is pivotally connected a lever 34,which projects upwardly in front of the dashboard, and which ispivotally connected with said dashboard at 35.

By moving the upper end of the lever 34 transversely of the dashboardeither of the bolts 26 maybe depressed, as will be readily understood,the bolt depressed depending upon the direction in which the lever 34:is moved, and the operation will be readily understood from theforegoing description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings and the following statement thereof.

If a car be moving along the main track in the direction of the arrow atand it is desired to take the side-track, all that is necessary is tooperate the lever 34 so as to depress the bolt 26 on the left-hand sideof the car, which operation will draw the switchtongue 12, or the freeend thereof, to the left, and the switch will thus be opened, so as toenable the ear to take the side-track, and if the switch be set to thesiding as the car approaohes and it is necessary or desirable for thecar to remain on the main track the lever 3a is operated so as todepress the bolt 26 on the right-hand side of the car, which operationwill throw the switch-tongue in the position shown in Fig. 1, and thecar may proceed on the main track.

This device is simple in construction and operation and perfectlyadapted to accomplish the result for which it is intended, and it isevident that changes in and modifications of the construction hereindescribed may be made without departing from the spirit of our inventionor sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. A railway-switch consisting of a main tracka side-track adjacent thereto, a crosshead between said main trackhaving in the upper portion a longitudinally extending groove, a slidingbar actuating therein, crossplates securing said bar in position, aswitchtongue pivotally connected with said sliding bar, said bar beingprovided midway thereof with a transverse groove having rounded sidewalls, a lever pivotally connected with a support, an arm securedcentrally thereto and extending at right angles therefrom and passingthrough the said transverse groove, a rod secured to each end of saidlever extending backwardly along the track a predetermined distance, adog pivotally secured to each end of said rod, an upwardly-directedprong or projection secured to the free end of each of said dogs, a boxor casing inclosing said crosshead and connecting parts and operatingdevices secured in the bottom of a car and adapted to act upon saidswitch mechanism, said parts being combined substantially as and forthepurpose described. 2. An automatic railway-switch, a main track, aside-track adjacent thereto, a crosshead between said main rails asliding bar secured in the upper portion of said cross-head, aswitch-tongue pivotally engaging said bar, said bar being providedmidway with a transversely-extending groove, a lever pivotallysupported, an arm secured centrally thereto, a rod secured to either endof said lever and extending backwardly a predetermined distance alongthe track, a dog secured to the outer end of each of said rods, anupwardlydirected prong or projection in connection with each of saiddogs, a casing engaging said operating parts, a car having on the bottomthereof a platform, a dashboard adjacent thereto vertically-movablebolts connected with said car between said axle,- springs operating onsaid bolts, a lever pivoted in front of said bolts and engaging the sameat their rear ends rods engaging the front ends of each lever, a secondlever pivotally secured below the said platform and engaging the freeend of said rod, an outwardly-directed arm engaging said last lever andmeans for actuating the same, all of said parts being combinedsubstantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have signedour names, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 21st day ofSeptember, 1896.

ROBERT C. HART.

ROBERT S. FIELD.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES S. ROGERS, M. A. KNOWLES.

